


Guilty Hour

by AlexiaBlackbriar13



Series: Man's Best Friend [12]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Bullied William, Dealing with Bullies, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, F/M, Family Bonding, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Hurt/Comfort, Married Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen Has PTSD, Oliver gets a service dog, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Queen Family, Season 6 Compliant, Service Dogs, Trick or Treating, William Queen has PTSD, William gets a service dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 13:12:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12532216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiaBlackbriar13/pseuds/AlexiaBlackbriar13
Summary: William has a rough day at school which is only made worse by his anxiety. Oliver, Felicity and Hunter struggle to deal with the fallout.Everything is made a little bit better by some good old Halloween trick-or-treating though, especially as those eighth grader bullies get what's coming to them.





	Guilty Hour

**Author's Note:**

> I just wrote this randomly. I don't know. It starts of really angsty and gets fluffier.
> 
> Spoilers-ish for Season 6?
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

* * *

“I’m home!” Oliver called out.

He kicked his shoes off at the door with a relieved sigh, lips quirking up in a smile as his service dog followed him into their apartment. Hunter’s tail was wagging fiercely, claws clacking on the wooden floor as the dog carefully shut the door behind the two of them and then began trying to help the archer get his socks off. It had been a very long, exhausting day of mayoral work. Oliver had to admit he felt rather guilty, as he wasn’t able to take Hunter out on a run due to a four-hour phone call he’d had with President Brayden.

Hunter trotted off with both of Oliver’s socks in his mouth happily, heading towards and jumping up onto the couch. He’d just settled when his master’s wife appeared in the doorway of their bedroom. A wide grin immediately spread over the archer’s face, a light, fluttery feeling in his chest as he observed Felicity gently cradling their six-month-old daughter, Annalise, obviously halfway through their evening nursing session. The service dog instantly leapt off the couch, rushing up to Oliver’s wife and daughter, wiggling with excitement but remaining reasonably calm as he was meant to while still on duty.

“Hey,” Felicity greeted. She sounded tired. Then again, she had been looking after Annalise all day. The best part about her running her own company with Curtis was that she could work from home, and that was what she was going until Oliver’s paternity leave was signed off with City Hall. “How was work?”

Sweeping her into his arms, Oliver hugged Felicity from the side gently as he pressed forehead kisses onto both his wife’s and daughter’s foreheads. Hunter whined from below them, nudging his master’s thigh with his muzzle. The archer dropped a hand to stroke down his service dog’s head to make sure he was included, and basked in the contentment of the moment. This was the best part of his day. Coming home to the rest of his family.

Well, three-quarters of the rest of his family.

“Work was busy,” he answered. “Where’s William?”

Felicity’s face fell. A knot of worry formed in Oliver’s stomach at her sad expression. His sudden change in mood caused Hunter to whimper and tilt his head, sitting down on his haunches. “In his bedroom. He had a rough day… his teacher called and I had to pick him up early. No, don’t -” She reached out and caught his arm, stopping the archer from running to check up on his son. “Oliver, he wants to be alone right now. He’s only got Banjo with him because I insisted.”

That reassured him somewhat. Banjo was the beagle emotional support dog that Oliver and Felicity had got for William. Hunter’s old trainer Ben had trained up the ex-sniffer dog after their son’s therapist had informed them he was suffering from PTSD and anxiety, and recommended they get him his own pup. Banjo was attached to William’s hip most days. He was allowed to accompany William to school if he had a test or stressful day ahead. But Banjo hadn’t gone with Will to school that morning. He’d stayed at home with Felicity and Annalise.

Oliver’s voice was low, shaky with concern as he questioned, “Do you know what happened?”

Felicity heaved a sigh, glancing down at their daughter, who was feeling at her mother hungrily. Remembering that he’d interrupted them earlier, Oliver tenderly guided his wife over to the couch with his hand resting on the small of her back. She sat down and quickly started breastfeeding Annalise again, leaning sideways so her head was resting on her husband’s shoulder as the archer took his seat beside her. Huffing, the husky mix bounded over to them and propped his head up onto the couch cushions so that he could watch them carefully, ears flicking back and forth as he sensed the anxiety building.

“His Geography teacher surprised them with a pop quiz this morning,” Felicity explained. “Will panicked. He had an anxiety attack and had to leave the classroom. Rumours obviously spread, because during morning recess the eighth graders who usually bully him tracked him down and tried to beat him up. William ended up being sent to the principal because he used some self-defence moves his superhero dad taught him and accidentally broke two of the kids’ noses, and sprained another’s arm.”

“Oh geez,” Oliver muttered, looking away aghastly. He’d never imagined his son would end up actually, properly hurting the kids bullying him using his training. He’d started training William in self-defence so that he could avoid getting hurt, not do that he could hurt others. Running a hand over his face, mostly due to the fact that he knew that the tale of William’s awful day wasn’t yet over, he asked promptingly with a sick feeling in his stomach, “And this afternoon?”

“His teacher called and asked me to pick him up just before lunch. And before you ask why they didn’t call you - they tried to, but your personal cell was turned off because you were on calls all day, and your assistant didn’t want to interrupt your phone call with the President. There weren’t any issues, Oliver. I may be the mother to our six-month-old, but Annalise drops straight off to sleep in the car, so picking Will up early was no trouble.”

Shaking his head, the archer dropped his head down into his hands. Hunter growled and jumped up so his forepaws were on Oliver’s knees as he began nuzzling at his master, attempting to calm him down. God, the archer felt like a failure of a father. It had been barely eight months of having William living with Felicity, Annalise, Hunter and him and Oliver felt like he couldn’t do anything right when it came to his son. Felicity was a much better parent to Will than he would ever be, and she was his step-mom - not that that mattered. She regarded William like a biological son, and adored him just as much as she loved Annalise.

“Hey.” Felicity poked him in the arm repeatedly. “Stop brooding. Our son is brooding enough to cover both of you right now.”

“I’m such a shitty parent,” Oliver mumbled into his hands. Hunter snarled and nipped his fingers in reprimand. “Ow! Hunter…”

“Don’t you dare say that,” Felicity said, her voice strangely ferocious, gaze afire. She shifted, quickly redoing her nursing bra up as their daughter finished feeding. “Okay, sit up properly, mister, I’m handing you Lizzie so you stop falling prey to those horrible intrusive thoughts of yours. You’re a wonderful dad who is supportive and loving and selfless.”

His arms collapsed into his lap and immediately he was assaulted with a baby. Instinct triggered Oliver to straighten his back so he could cradle Annalise’s head safely. The second he had his daughter in his arms, he relaxed. Lizzie blinked up at him with bright blue eyes, tiny hands curling into his shirt as she cuddled up to her father with a soft mewling sound. Insistent chuffing from Hunter forced Oliver to part his legs so the service dog could shuffle closer and gaze up at the baby in absolute awe. The husky mix was rather obsessed with their daughter; he was extremely protective over Oliver and Felicity’s children, Annalise and William both.

“See, now you’re not broody,” Felicity said. “My ovaries are just exploding.”

“I hope not,” Oliver replied quietly, glancing up to flash a grin of amusement at his wife.

“Oliver Queen is handsome and makes me incredibly flustered, but Oliver Queen holding my baby and looking at her like she’s the best thing to ever happen to him makes me want to kill myself.” Felicity rose quickly, brushing herself off as she tried to hide her flushed face. “I’m going to put your pasta bake into the oven. Tell me how your talk with William goes?”

“Sure. I’ll take Lizzie and Hunter with me for back-up,” Oliver nodded his head down at the baby and dog. The husky mix perked up on hearing his name, getting to his paws and already beginning to head towards William’s bedroom without any prompting whatsoever. Oliver’s daughter squealed adorably as he shifted her so she was lying on his shoulder, reaching up with tubby little hands to pat at his stubble. “Has Will eaten anything since lunch?”

“I don’t even think he ate lunch,” Felicity responded, looking ashamed. “He said he ate at school but I think he was lying.”

Yikes. William never lied to him or Felicity. If his wife thought their son was lying to them, it meant that something very serious was going on with William. Something very serious that Oliver was definitely going to support him though.

He quickly grabbed one of his homemade honey and oat cereal bars before Oliver knocked cautiously on William’s bedroom door. After waiting a moment, the archer let himself in. Hunter slipped through his legs, charging ahead with his ears pricked forwards and tail flicking agitatedly, which indicated he was on a mission to perform a service dog duty. At first, Oliver couldn’t see his son at all, which sent dread arching through his entire body. William wouldn’t run away, would he? He wouldn’t sneak out onto the streets in his upset state… surely he knew better than that.

It was Banjo wiggling out from under the bed and barking at Hunter, who raced up to the smaller beagle and sniffed at him, that revealed William’s position. Despair struck Oliver as he knelt down and then switched to sitting cross-legged on the floor, ever so heedful of the baby in his arms, so he was on the same level as his son. William was barely visible, curled up under the bed, but Oliver could hear him sniffling. Banjo wiggled his way back to his owner, whimpering as he curled up next to the boy. Hunter laid down next to his master, plopping his head down onto his paws so he could peer underneath the bed at his smaller master, whining concernedly.

Before Oliver could think to say anything, William’s muffled voice called out, “Go away, Oliver,” sounding choked up in his distress.

The fact that he was suddenly back to ‘Oliver’ after about two months of his son calling him ‘Dad’ did not escape him, and the archer swallowed, trying to keep his tone neutral as he spoke as to not let on that he was on the verge of tears himself. “Hey, buddy. I heard you had a bit of a rough day.”

“Go away.”

“I’m not leaving. I wanna help you, kiddo, but I can’t do that if I go away. Look, I even brought your baby sister with me to help. You wanna come out and cuddle with her? Lizzie always gives the best cuddles, you know that.”

“She’s not my baby sister.”

“Umm… since you’re our son and Lizzie’s our daughter, I think she kinda is, bud.” He tried to say it in a bit of a teasing manner in an attempt to lighten the mood and maybe cheer William up a bit.

If anything, Oliver’s remark just made William’s sniffling transform into soft, distraught sobs. “I’m not your son.”

Throat closing up, Oliver answered, “Yeah, you are. Of course you are.”

“I don’t deserve to be your son.”

His tears began falling. Oh god, this was so much worse than anything Oliver could have imagined. “Oh, buddy. You could not be more wrong. What could ever make you think that?”

William didn’t reply for a minute or two, staying completely still under the bed, only moving, from what Oliver could see, to wipe away his tears and snot from crying on his sleeve. He was at least huddling with Banjo, who was licking over his son’s face with soothing croons. In comparison, Hunter was squirming beside the archer fretfully, irritated that he couldn’t join Banjo in the small space and comfort the boy. As if she could feel how upset everybody in the room was, Annalise fidgeted on Oliver’s shoulder, giving a quiet wail as she fisted little handfuls of Oliver’s shirt, pounding her hands onto his chest and back. He shushed her gently, bouncing. He already had one crying child on his hands, he really didn’t need another.

William eventually began to talk.

“I’m a mess. I - Ever since the island, I get scared at the slightest little thing. I have stupid nightmares all the time and wake everybody up every night and then nobody gets any sleep… I disrupt classes at school because I get upset when my teachers say or teach stuff that reminds me of - reminds me of…” he paused, cutting himself off with another heartbreaking sob. “You and Felicity - you’re _perfect_. You’re this amazing, happy couple and with Lizzie, she’s all innocent and pure and small and - and you have Hunter and Banjo who are the _best_ dogs - you’re this perfect family and I don’t belong in it. I’m not worthy to be part of your family because I’m… I’m _broken_ ,” William admitted, and his choice of word caused Oliver to almost immediately snap into the start of a panic attack. Because how many times had he used that word to describe himself.

“William,” he breathed.

“You’d be better off without me. Happier without me. I’m just some dumb, unlovable kid whose mom died because of a psychopath and I got lucky with a superhero dad. I don’t deserve to have you or Felicity as my parents looking after me. You - you should spend all your time with Annalise instead of spending part of it with me. She’s gonna grow up and be great and I’m just - I’m just gonna be an idiot.”

An echoing silence fell.

Oliver’s voice trembled. “William, come out here, please.”

“I don’t wanna.”

“ _Please_.”

His son reluctantly dragged himself out from under the bed. He was shaking and looked as if he’d been crying all day. Slumping against the side of the bed, William very pointedly avoided all eye contact with Oliver. He focused entirely on staring at his hands on his lap, and then devoted his attention to Banjo, who crawled onto the boy’s thighs, and Hunter, who nuzzled into his neck and chest, both dogs attempting to calm him down. The archer gently transferred his daughter from his shoulder onto William’s, aiding his son in supporting her so she didn’t fall, and then rapidly wrapped his arms around him, making sure not to squish Lizzie.

“You are _not_ broken and unlovable,” Oliver whispered fiercely, dropping a kiss to the crown of his son’s head, who tensed at the contact, as if he didn’t know how to react to the tight embrace. “You are the most _perfect_ son I could ever wish for and I am so, so lucky to have you in my life. All of us are.”

“But I’m not -”

“William, look at me.” At first, he refused to meet his gaze, but after Hunter growled, butting his muzzle into his chin, William glanced up. His eyes were red-rimmed from his crying and there was a haunted subduedness there that made Oliver’s heart clench. “You think you’re unworthy because of the nightmares and panic attacks in school? That you don’t deserve our love because you’ve gone through such horrific events in your life that they left marks on you? Buddy, if that were true, I would be alone and dead ten times over. Felicity loves me despite my flaws, as many of them as there are - and trust me, there are a _lot_ \- and we both love you despite yours. To the ends of this Earth, through the multiverse and back. You are our son and you deserve our love and attention as much as Annalise does.”

“But -”

“And you are not,” Oliver interrupted him, staring at him intensely, “And will never be, an idiot, William Queen. You built your first computer last month, kiddo, and it’s one of the highest spec custom models we’ve ever seen. We use it down in the bunker. You’re _twelve_.”

“Felicity built her first one at seven,” William muttered, stroking over Banjo’s ears with one hand while the other clutched his baby sister to his chest. Annalise was gnawing on the collar of William’s t-shirt unbeknownst to him, _mahhh_ ing as she brushed her fingers over her big brother’s neck.

“I built my first one last year,” Oliver countered. “I was thirty-one. It exploded the moment it turned on.” His son snorted at that. “Kiddo, Felicity and I are going to love you no matter what you think of yourself, no matter what trouble you get yourself into, and no matter what you do now and in the future. You’re our son. Okay?”

William nodded, wiping away the last remainders of his tears as he whispered, “Okay.”

Oliver paused, adding with a smile, “I think Lizzie agrees with that, considering she’s chewing your shirt.”

“Eww! Lizzie, stop!” William protested, snapping out of his morose mood almost instantly as he lifted the baby high into the air and away from his shirt, which was partly soaked with her saliva now. “That’s disgusting!”

Annalise squealed in joy, clapping her hands. Hunter jumped to his feet, tail thumping Oliver’s side as he hopped on his hind legs so he was at equal height with the baby. Snickering, Oliver moved from his cross-legged position so he was kneeling, taking the baby from his son and then very gently placing her so she was sitting on Hunter’s back, supporting her carefully. This was one of Annalise’s favourite games, playing horsey with the service dog. Since she was only six months, and hardly weighed anything, it didn’t hurt the husky mix at all - in fact, Hunter loved playing this game with his daughter.

“Dad, I don’t think I want to go to school tomorrow,” William commented, voice small and uncertain as he watched his father help Annalise sit upright on the service dog’s back.

“Well, whether you want to or not, you’re not going.” Felicity appeared in the doorway, smiling at the sight she was met with. Her gaze clashed with Oliver’s for a brief moment, relief palpable in her expression. The archer felt the same relief that their son was no longer drowning in his own sorrows. “You actually _can’t_ go… so…”

“Wait, what?” Oliver questioned. He glanced between his son and wife suspiciously. William had a very sheepish look on his face, that only made him more apprehensive. “What are you talking about?”

“Turns out when you sprain a kid’s arm and break two other kids’ noses using Green Arrow fighting moves taught to you by your superhero dad, you get suspended,” William muttered.

“ _Suspended?_ ” Oliver repeated, astonished and alarmed at the same time. Hunter snuffled at his neck on hearing the agitation in his tone. Oliver couldn’t be angry - he had, after all, trained his son with those moves, so him using them for self-defence against the eighth-grader bullies was not unexpected. “For how long?”

“Just until the end of the week,” Felicity reassured him. “It’s no big deal.”

“It’s _Monday_. Will’s been suspended for _four days_?”

“You got suspended for longer periods of time, _multiple_ times, Oliver,” his wife reminded him with a warning tone. “For much worse things than defending yourself against bullies and getting a little carried away with your roundhouse kicks.” Before the archer could respond, she continued, “Actually, it’s kind of a good thing you’ve been suspended, William.”

“What?” his son asked in confusion at the same time Oliver exclaimed, “Excuse me?!” incredulously.

“I’ve got have to Curtis over Wednesday through Friday for meetings all day. Since Raisa’s on vacation to see her family in Russia right now, you can baby-sit Annalise for me,” Felicity suggested. “I think Lyla would appreciate it if you could babysit Sara and JJ as well, since she and John have some ARGUS work they need to do. See? It’ll all work out.”

“At least tell me the eighth-graders got suspended too.”

“They did,” she replied. “For about twice the time, too. I have something better for you, though - William gave me their names, so I was able to track down their addresses. And, well, it is Halloween tomorrow… I thought maybe we could take a short trip around the neighbourhood, make sure they know that messing with William Queen is a bad idea.”

A devious smile lit up William’s face. “Felicity, you’re the best.”

“Thank you,” she beamed. “Cisco’s gonna pop around tomorrow to drop off your costume and Lizzie’s. From what he said over the phone, he’s got some pieces lined up for Hunter and Banjo as well. This Halloween is gonna be _bitchin’_.”

“Never say that again,” Oliver grimaced. “ _Please_.”

Felicity stuck her tongue out at him.

“So we have a Halloween theme, right?” the archer questioned, looking between his family. “Rene mentioned it this morning in the office, but he won’t tell me what it is.”

“We’re not going to either,” William said. “It would ruin the surprise.”

“It’s a surprise?”

“You’re going to hate it,” Felicity laughed.

Banjo and Hunter both barked simultaneously, as if in agreement. Annalise clapped her hands enthusiastically on Hunter’s back.

“I’m going to regret agreeing to this, aren’t I?” Oliver sighed.

“Oh, definitely.”

* * *

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

“Just plaster on a smile and pretend you’re having fun.”

“Even that might be too much for him, Felicity,” Diggle responded. “Look at him, he looks as if he’s constipated and feeling sick at the same time.”

The entire Team Arrow family had met up at Oliver’s apartment with all the kids in advance of heading out to go trick or treating together. It was when everybody arrived that the archer finally realised what the theme was.

William was dressed up in his own mini Green Arrow costume. Annalise was wearing a tiny Supergirl suit. JJ was dressed as the Flash, while Sara was dressed as up in a smaller version of Dinah’s Black Canary suit. Zoe, Rene’s daughter, was wearing a Speedy suit. Banjo and Hunter were dressed up as Kid Flash and Wild Dog. Captain, Diggle and Lyla’s chocolate Labrador service dog, was dressed as Vixen.

Felicity, Diggle and Lyla were all going as themselves, wearing their usual Overwatch, Spartan and Harbinger gear. Rene was going as Lance, which was pretty hilarious, because he was just wearing a much smarter suit than usual.

But since the Green Arrow was taken - by Oliver’s own son, nonetheless, Oliver was forced to dress up as Vibe.

Cisco was probably having a hysterical fit of laughter over in Central City.

“I hate this,” Oliver gritted out through the fake smile on his face as they traipsed through the suburbs of Star City, heading towards the neighbourhood where they knew William’s bullies resided, stopping at the houses with pumpkins outside so the kids could collect their candy. “I hate this so much.”

“No, you don’t. Stop being such a grumpy cat and hold Annalise,” Felicity sighed, exchanging the baby for Hunter’s leash. The service dog was practically prancing around in his Wild Dog costume, rocking the costume. Rene shot a pleased look over at them.

“Remind me to shoot Cisco with at least ten arrows next time I see him.”

“I don’t think it would be very nice of you to shoot Cisco at the Allen twins’ birthday party, Oliver.”

“Barry and Iris won’t notice.”

“I think they will.”

Their conversation ceased when William sprinted up to him, fake bow in hand and arrowhead-less arrows rattling in his quiver. Oliver had to admit, his son did look awesome dressed up as the Green Arrow. He’d obviously been practising his Green Arrow Growl, as Felicity had dubbed it, because he’d perfected the voice as well without even needing a modulator.

He could almost see the media headlines now: ‘ _Mayor Green Arrow Upstaged As Hero By Own Son At Halloween_ ’.

“Dad, look, a guy gave me entire bars of Hershey’s!” William said excitedly, showing them the chocolate bar - or as Oliver likes to call it, the solid block of heart disease. “He tried to give me peanuts but I told him that Mom’s allergic and he didn’t have anything else so he gave me this!”

“Nice haul, bud!” Felicity praised him.

“Where are we gonna keep this candy, by the way?” William questioned. “I can’t keep it in my room because Banjo and Hunter would probably eat it and then they’d die because chocolate is poisonous to dogs.”

“I’ve got a tin you can put it in,” Oliver said. “JJ, Sara and Zoe are waving at you, I think they want you with them for the next house.”

“Cool!” William turned and ran back to his friends, Banjo bouncing at his side.

Oliver sighed and leant down so he could stroke over Hunter’s ears with one hand, which were partially hidden by his Wild Dog mask. Annalise was fast asleep on his shoulder by now, her little red cape twisted around the archer’s fingers. The kids were having fun, that was the most important part of this evening. Felicity and Lyla were walking around arm in arm, chatting away while Diggle, Rene and Captain oversaw the kids going up to each house’s door. Only a couple more hours and they’d be done for the night.

Ten minutes later, William came up to Oliver again, but his excited mood seemed to have evaporated. He straightened when he observed his son’s expression as he looked a little scared.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Chad and his friends are coming down the other side of the street,” William answered quietly.

Judging by how his son was now reluctant to leave Oliver’s side, the archer realised quickly that this ‘Chad’ and his friends were most likely the eighth graders bullying William. A ferocious sense of anger swelled inside of the archer as he caught sight of the teenagers shoving each other around and laughing on the other side of the room, dressed up as knights and werewolves and the such.

Felicity was at his side the moment Oliver gave into his protective instinct and began walking towards the teenaged punks to tell them to back away from his kid at school. “Don’t,” she said sharply. “That’s William’s battle, not yours.”

“I’m perfectly fine with Dad fighting my battles for me when it comes to _them_ ,” William muttered from behind him.

“They hurt him,” he growled.

“And William hurt them.”

Oliver looked back at the kids, and yes, one of them had his arm in a sling and two more of them had bandages over their noses. Felicity swept up beside their son and wrapped her arm around him, leaning in and starting to whisper in his ear. After a minute, William’s slightly scared and wary expression had transformed into one of hard resolve, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He called over Captain, Hunter and Banjo and then, with the three dogs flanking him, stormed away, marching up to the group of teenagers on the other side of the street.

Watching on anxiously, Oliver prepared himself for battle in case he had to jump in at the last second to stop a fight breaking out between the kids. Except… the teenagers didn’t seem to be becoming aggressive towards his son. In fact, they seemed to be backing away from him a little. Oliver passed Annalise over to Felicity so that he could creep a little closer to hear what they were saying.

“... so if you come near me again or try and hurt me or Zoe or _any_ of my friends, I’ll hurt you worse than broken noses and a sprained arm next time,” William was saying, his voice deep and resounding. His whole Green Arrow getup made the threat ten times more intimidating.

“You’re pathetic,” one of the kids spat at him. He looked to be the leader of the group, so Oliver guessed this was Chad. “You’re only brave enough to stand up to us when you’ve got your stupid mutts backing you up and you’re wearing daddy’s little costume.”

To Oliver’s shock, William withdrew one of the dummy arrows and nocked it to the bow, just like the archer had taught him during their training sessions. “I don’t need anybody to protect me. I’m the Green Arrow’s son, and next in line to become him. You’re just a bunch of idiots who express their insecurities by picking on younger kids who are cooler than you.”

Chad stepped forwards furiously, raising his fist as if he was about to punch William. Before Oliver had the chance to react, however, adrenaline racing through his blood and priming him for action, William fired the dummy arrow directly into the bully’s shoulder, at the same time that Hunter, Banjo and Captain began barking ferociously and chasing after the kids, almost like a feral pack of wolves in their behaviour protecting their young master. Chad howled in pain, despite the arrow bouncing off his shoulder harmlessly, and he ran off, the rest of the bullies following after him at a sprint.

“ _YOU HAVE FAILED THIS CITY!_ ” William screamed after them.

Oliver couldn’t help it - he burst into laughter. He could hear Felicity, Rene, Diggle and Lyla all laughing behind him as well. That might have been the best thing he’d ever seen. William whipped around and triumphantly walked back towards them, a massive grin on his face. Hunter rushed back to the archer, gleefully jumping around and licking at Oliver’s palms. Banjo and Captain also ran back to their owners, William hauling the beagle up into his arms for a hug while Captain was showered with praise by the Diggles.

“That was so awesome, Will!” Zoe squealed, hugging him.

“Yeah, I don’t think those punks are gonna be bothering you two squirts again,” Rene chuckled, ruffling William’s hair.

“That was epic, buddy,” Felicity smirked. “Remind me if we ever need a stand-in for your dad that you do a pretty accurate Green Arrow impression.”

“Since when do you know how to shoot arrows?” Lyla asked curiously.

“Dad’s been giving me some self-defence classes,” William blushed. “I convinced him to show me how to shoot and… I dunno, I’m up for consideration for the school archery team now.”

“Little Green Arrow in the making,” Diggle chuckled. “And considering his tech skills, a little Overwatch too. A Green Arrow-Overwatch hybrid kid.”

“Well, considering he’s mine and Felicity’s son, that does make sense,” Oliver said. William glanced over at him hopefully, and a wide grin spread over the archer’s face. “I’m so proud of you, buddy. That was amazing.”

Sara whined. “Can we get back to trick or treating now Will kicked their asses?”

“Sara!” Diggle and Lyla admonished in sync.

“Whaaaaat?”

“No, she’s right,” William said. “We’ve only filled our baskets up half way, right guys? Definitely need to keep trick or treating until they’re full of candy.”

The kids cheered. Hunter, Banjo and Captain all barked joyously, jumping up and down and then running alongside the children as they headed off down the drive of the next house with pumpkins outside.

Felicity slid up to Oliver and slipped her arm around his waist, laying her head on his shoulder as they watched their son and their team’s kids knocking on the door, buzzing as they anticipated getting more candy. “I love our family,” she murmured, rubbing their daughter’s back.

The archer dipped down to drop a kiss on her forehead, and then on Annalise’s. Lacing their hands together, he watched his son as William glowed with satisfaction while the woman giving them chocolate at the door commented on how fabulous his costume looked. Hunter was sitting beside him, tail wagging a mile a minute as the woman fed him a piece of carrot from a separate bowl, and then offered Banjo a slice as well, which the beagle wolfed down.

Oliver smiled, and there were faint traces of happy tears in his eyes and he answered thickly, “So do I.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Please leave kudos and comment :)
> 
> Tumblr: @alexiablackbriar13  
> Twitter: @lexiblackbriar


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